Mr Richardson says the Royal Horticultural Society is beginning to reflect the new gardening trend.

"The Chelsea Flower Show is the most modern it's ever been, quite radical really."

Rubber plant

Paul Cooper, dubbed the Alexander McQueen of garden design by the Times, has perhaps left the "baggage of the 19th Century" further behind than most.

Mr Cooper's designs have made use of such unlikely garden materials as rubber.

"Why not rubber? It's washable and much more sensible than concrete or stone slabs. There's so much obsessing over historicism. Concrete companies spend millions to make their products look like old-fashioned paving."

Mr Cooper, whose clients include fashion designers, City slickers and media figures, says people have woken up to the possibilities offered by their gardens.

"They think: 'We can really do something with this space.' Their ideas and lifestyle should dictate how their gardens look."

Gardening is so popular, that a recent New Eden survey found that one in four women preferred it to sex.

It isn't all a bed of roses, though. Just like the old sex, you should take time to familiarise yourself with the new gardening before taking the plunge.